Abberley is a parish in rural West Worcestershire situated within the Malvern Hills District Council boundaries. It is an approximate rectangle, 6 miles long and up to a mile wide. The ridge of Abberley Hill forms the long eastern boundary.
Abberley Hill is formed of an overturned thrust fold of Silurian rocks capped with a breccia of Permian age. On the west side of the hill, the sandstones, clays and coal seams of The Wyre Forest coalfield provided employment in extraction of coal from the Middle Ages until the late 1920s and clay for making bricks and tiles from at least the late fifteenth century until the middle of the twentieth century. At the east end of the parish, the underlying clays and sandstones are of Devonian age.
The settlement pattern of Abberley like many parishes in Worcester dates from at least Saxon times and is and remains a dispersed one with houses grouped around farmsteads or greens, Town Farm and Elms Green attest to this style of settlement. Recent local history projects have identified evidence of both pre-historic people and Romans living in the area as well as continuous occupation from the Medieval period to the present day. Farming remains the dominant land use, orchards are far less plentiful than they had been but hops are now being grown again.
Within the parish, a hunting lodge and its associated deer park were given to a favourite of the William the Conqueror after the Battle of Hastings but at times reverted to the Crown, the last hereditary owners, the Bromleys, sold the estate in 1836. Abberley Lodge was demolished and a new house named Abberley Hall was built by the Moilliets, a Birmingham banking family, the estate was later owned by John Joseph Jones, an Oldham industrialist and banker. After 1910, the Jones heirs chose not to live in Abberley and from 1912, the building has housed Abberley Hall preparatory school. Former pupils include a number of MPs including Geoffrey Howe, later Lord Abaravon and Philip Dunne the sitting MP for South Shropshire. Abberley’s other grand house, The Elms was owned by the Sir Richard and Lady Brooke from 1926 until 1946. Sir Richard established a successful racing stables; King Salmon, his most famous horse won the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown in 1934 and twice came second in the Derby. Training race horses continues elsewhere in the parish to this day. The Elms later became one of the first English country house hotels and is still operates as a hotel and spa today.
Abberley has had a village school since 1717, the school has occupied its current building since 1859. Abberley Post Office was run from rooms in private houses until moving into the Village Stores, Abberley’s remaining village shop, in the twenty first century. The Manor Arms, the remaining pub, was originally called the Bromley Arms. Abberley retains two Church of England churches, but did also have a Methodist Chapel. Owen’s Garage continues to provide a car repair business, but no longer sells fuel or operates the local bus service as it did in the twentieth century.
Abberley Parish Council October meeting via zoom will be via a Registered zoom meeting. The Public are welcome to attend. To register to attend the meeting please see below. Please note that you need to register in advance of the meeting to obtain your secure link and code. Register in advance for this meeting: […]
Are you ready for the new NHS Covid-19 app? From Thursday (24 September 2020) the NHS Covid-19 contract tracing app will be launched. This is part of the test and trace service and will be important in helping control the spread of coronavirus and protecting each other. All businesses in the following sectors must by […]
Dear Parishioners, It is often brought to our notice that there is a problem with pavement parking in Abberley. It is misguided to think that it is helpful to park across the pavement. It may allow cars to pass unimpeded but it makes it IMPOSSIBLE for pedestrians, people with sight problems and pushchairs and prams […]
The Parish Council have recently had reports of parking issues on The Common , Abberley. Pedestrians having to squeeze past or walk in the road, Cars turning in from A443 often find themselves head on with vehicles leaving the Common. We have contacted PCSO 6336 Vanessa Snape, our Community Support Officer of Martley and Tenbury […]
After consultation with the community and Parish Council and following the planning guidance, Malvern Hills District Council have announced that the new road name will be “School Meadow”. Abberley Parish Council would like to thank all those within the Parish that took part in responding to the consultation.
OVERGROWN HEDGES AND TREES BORDERING ROADS AND PATHS Dear Parishioners, You may not be aware that there are strict rules governing the growth of trees and hedging bordering paths and roads. 1. There should be clearance of at least 2.2m (7’ 2’’) above a footway, pavement, or verge to allow pedestrians free passage. 2. Hedges/vegetation […]
Here 2 Help You! Find out more about Crowdfund Worcestershire at latest online event Has lockdown given you an idea of how you could improve things for your local community? If so, the County Council wants to hear from you. Charities, local organisations and individuals across the county are being encouraged to join an hour […]
Worcestershire County Council is creating a #HandsFaceSpace video campaign to encourage people to follow social distancing rules – wash your hands regularly, wear face coverings and keep a safe distance – and they need your support. The campaign is focused on asking people to create short videos to tell us why sticking to the ‘Hands, […]
Residents in Abberley are being asked for their views on a draft plan for future development in their parish. The draft Abberley Neighbourhood Plan covers the period between 2020 and 2030 and sets out a vision and policies to guide development in the parish. The draft Plan includes policies to guide new housing in the […]
